Books, podcast, videos and inspired thoughts from the week that was.Tech
The Merge Cube from Merge Studios is the coolest thing I never knew I needed. It bridges the gap between the physical world and the digital world in a way that is friendly to 5-year-olds and 70-year-olds alike. It puts technology, very literally in your hands. And, it’s $15 at Amazon.com or a store near you.

Why start from zero when you can save money and do better work in half the time? Using a site like Envato.com or iStockphoto.com to get inspired, grab materials to build with, or just a template you can modify will save you oobs of time and if you really think about it, that’s more valuable than money at a certain point.

These videos by Book Video Club are a great example of distilling a concept down to a potent shot of learning in just a few minutes time. As developers of training, we might be able to take some inspiration from the short movie trailer style of the videos and apply them to our own training. Here’s a great example covering the book Meetings Suck: Turning One of The Most Loathed Elements of Business into One of the Most Valuable
Learning to learn may sound like a strange concept for paid professionals, but the techniques and stories laid out in UltraLearning by Scott Young are a great catalyst for refining your growth mindset and continuous learning journey.

What if… we took some of the true and tried methods of learning from our college days and applied them to the re-skill movement in Corporate America? Here’s a great app (Tiny Cards) and website from the makers of doulingo (the best language learning app out there) that is free and easy to use. Better yet, you can create your own decks of “flashcards” that will be given a Spaced Repetition Learning algorithm and a bit of gamification to help you learn in a familiar and fun way.
